Unit Card:

Set - Rarity - Number

War At Sea - Common - 18/64

History:

nrnstraswa
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was the primary dive-bomber for the United States Navy. While it lacked folding wings as those soon became standard for later carrier-bourne aircraft, the Dauntless developed a reputation of ruggedness and stability in a dive. This stability was achieved by the aircraft's perforated "swiss-cheese" diveflaps, which helped it slow down during a dive for greater hit accuracy.

In addition to a heavy bomb load, the SBD could defend itself if attacked with its twin 50 caliber machine guns installed in the propeller cowling, and the rear twin turret(30 cal.) could provide cover to the aft.

The first act of SBD combat in WWII was in the skies above Pearl Harbor. Scouting SBDs from USS Enterprise unknowingly flew right into the thick of the action, only to fall to loitering Zeroes attempting to qwell any American plane from rising up to meet them.

After Pearl, the Dauntless, along with the F4F Wildcat and the TBD Devastator took the fight to Japan aboard the US carriers, which were on excercises during the bombing.

After attacking several Japanese-held islands, Dauntlesses from USS Yorktown and USS Lexington (CV-2) would get their chance to avenge Pearl Harbor during the first ever carrier battle of the Coral Sea. SBDs, along with TBDs, struck the first blow, damaging the Shokaku and claiming their first Japanese carrier, Shoho.

During this battle, spare SBDs acted as fighter aircraft, to patrol for enemy torpedo bombers, but one squad in particular was jumped by a group of Japanese fighters. All but one of the eight SBDs in the group were shot down. The Japanese gave everything they could to shoot down this solitary Dauntless, but the pilot was skilled enough to turn the tables, shooting down two and clipping the wing of the last one.
For this feat, the pilot, Stanley"Swede" Vejtasa, of the Yorktown, was transferred to the Enterprise to fly an F4F Wildcat.
Described in greater detail here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEnDjwXnj3Y

Afterwards, in the pivotal Battle of Midway, the SBD Dauntlesses of Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown (repaired just in time to join after sverely damaged at Coral Sea) caught the Japanese fighter screen off-guard, and set three of their large fleet carriers ablaze. (Akagi, Soryu , Kaga) The final remaining Japanese carrier, despite evening the score by reducing Yorktown to a sinking condition, met its by Enterprise Dauntlesses later that day.

The SBD Dauntless continued to be active thoughtout the rest of WWII. Although being slowly replaced by the SB2C Helldiver, the SBD was still looked to as the better dive-bomber in most cases, while the new plane was still teething its problems. The Dauntless was also used by many other countries of the Allied forces, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and France .

Reviews:

RaySpruance
The SBD Dauntless is a lethal killer that can take out a carrier singlehandedly and potentially inflict lethal damage upon battleships and capital ships. Especially when paired with the Catalina and Expert Bombers from the carriers, she can dish out 13 bomb dice. Press the Attack is useful, but probably not the best use of the aircraft since you could lose the unit if the attack fails.

Plastic Figure Notes:

Montyburns1982

Ok, but a bit dull and the plastic is a bit shiny which is kind of off putting. About as exciting as a DB sculpt can get really.